Rational attenuation of elapid long-chain neurotoxin by targeted residue substitution and disulfide architecture simplification: implications for receptor interaction and immune recognition

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  Rational attenuation of elapid long-chain neurotoxin by targeted residue substitution and disulfide architecture simplification: implications for receptor interaction and immune recognition Abstract Elapid long-chain neurotoxins (LNTxs) exert their toxicity through high-affinity binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Specific residues mediate this process, including basic (Lys23, Arg33, Arg36, Lys49), structural (Cys26, Cys30), and aromatic (Phe29) amino acids. To investigate the functional and immunogenic implications of modifying these residues, we designed two recombinant variants of a consensus LNTx. The first variant, rLcNTx V1, contains charge-reversal mutations at four key basic positions, while the second, rLcNTx V2, lacks the segment corresponding to the fifth disulfide bond. We expressed both variants in Escherichia coli Origami cells. rLcNTx V1 was recovered in a soluble form, but rLcNTx V2 was present only in inclusion bodies. We assessed the binding ...

Revision of Indian Ischnothelidae (Arachnida: Araneae) and descriptions of two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995

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Revision of Indian Ischnothelidae (Arachnida: Araneae) and descriptions of two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995

Abstract

Two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995 are described from the Western Ghats of India: I. amboli Kadam, Tripathi & Sherwood sp. nov. (♂♀) from Amboli in Maharashtra, and I. silentvalley Tripathi, Kadam & Sherwood sp. nov. (♂♀) from Silent Valley National Park in Kerala. Images of the type material of I. dumicola (Pocock, 1900), the type species, are presented to complement its identification. Additionally, the male of I. mala Coyle, 1995 is described for the first time. We transfer the misplaced Ischnothele indicola Tikader, 1969 to the genus Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 (Macrothelidae), creating the new combination Macrothele indicola comb. nov. A catalogue of Indian Ischnothelidae and their currently known distribution is mapped.

Tripathi, R., Kadam, G., Sherwood, D., & Sudhikumar, A. V. (2025). Revision of Indian Ischnothelidae (Arachnida: Araneae) and descriptions of two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995. European Journal of Taxonomy, 981(1), 189-212. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.981.2827